


I Put a Spell on You (Rewrite)

by AkaraSoma



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pokemon GO
Genre: ALL THE KINKS, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Polyamorous Character, so many kinks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-07-07 01:58:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15898593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkaraSoma/pseuds/AkaraSoma
Summary: Akara didn't need anyone. She got her titles on her own. She trained her Pokémon on her own. She made her life as she wanted it!That being said, having three regional champion titles, being a Master Rank trainer in contests, and being a Master of MMA didn't quite fill a hole in her heart.Well, two holes.She's one of the few people "blessed" with having two Soul Mates, Red and Blue being the only other people she knew with a polyamorous Bond with their partner, Hazel.Problem is... Akara never stopped to search for hers. From experience, love would've only distracted her from her goals, so she never saw the point of looking for them.Now that she's settled down in Alola, though, the Marks have started becoming more vibrant and she can feel heartbeats from them.They're here, in Alola, and Akara's done going without.





	1. Return to Alola

“Oh, Sweetie! This place looks amazing!” Alana gushed as she stumbled to get her shoes off in the genkan of the newly renovated Kantoan style minka. The brunette woman took a deep breath and was flooded with memories of living with her children and ex-husband in Kanto – all happy, rest assured. “I didn’t think you’d go with an almost traditional restoration, though.”

“Meh.” Her oldest child and the Tri-Regional Champion, Akara, shrugged as she put her mother’s shoes in the little cubby off to the side of the genkan. Alana’s youngest, Sol, was carefully doing the same with his shoes and hanging up the siblings’ bags on the hooks above it. “I missed being in Ōto-san’s place. There’s way too many ‘authentic Alolan’ resorts in the Regions and I can always just visit you if I need something simple and quaint.”

Sol was quiet as he wandered around the tatami floored home, gently tracing the designs that had been sand blasted into the glass panes of the shoji. He came to the large curio cabinet that spanned an entire wall, only split in the middle for the wall mounted fifty inch TV and entertainment center beneath it, and looked at the multitude of fossils, Mega-Stones, and other relics his sister had obtained in her career as a Trainer. The Blue Orb pulsed lightly alongside an open Master Ball and he remembered how she’d refused to officially release Kyogre to ensure no one ever tried to catch the Legendary again.

Akara had moved in a few months after they had gotten settled into their home on Mele Mele Island. Close enough to visit, but far enough for her to have her privacy, and yet Sol could still feel her shadow over him. Akara never acted like he had to follow in her footsteps or reach her level. Hell, she’d only gotten as far as she had out of spite half the time. Having a sister with three regional titles, the Hoenn title spanning the most recent five years, was just a heavy burden to bare once people connected their last name.

Sol sighed and shook the thoughts from his head. Akara was nothing less than supportive in everything he’d done in his life. Being literally double his age at twenty-six, she was even covering all of his medical costs for his transitioning! He knew a lot of kids – adults, too – that weren’t as lucky to have a family that accepted the fact that they were transgender.

“Hello~? Earth to Sunflora!” Sol jolted back to himself, hand accidentally rattling the glass of the cabinet loudly as Akara’s warm amber eyes came into focus. He blinked his own Sunflora petal yellow orbs and felt his face heat up at being caught daydreaming. “I asked if you were gonna participate in the Island Challenge, Otouto!”

“I-I was thinking about it. Professor Kukui is so pushy about it, though, like I don’t have a choice…”

“Kukui? Is that the shirtless guy that keeps just walking into your house?” When he nodded, Akara turned to their mother with a frown. “I told you to lock your doors, Ōka-san!”

“Oh, he’s harmless-!”

“And _married_ ,” Sol mumbled behind Akara as they walked into the engawa that faced the back yard, making Akara snicker at their mother’s blushing face.

He felt more intimidation creep back into his mind seeing his sister’s Pokémon. A Tyrantrum sauntered around with an Aurorus; a trio of Shiny Pokémon were in the small berry and fruit orchard in the back – a Volcarona fluttered around with a Shiny Sylveon and a Shiny Rapidash paced between trees; and her oldest companion, Auron the Blaziken, was putting up the clothing line.

Her Champion team from Hoenn – reigning for five years before she decided to retire so she could spend time with her family. She had also gotten extremely bored with having to sit and wait for challengers that she’d just beat in a few turns anyway. All he had was a regular Eevee that was more of a pet, but he hadn’t started training the little one yet.

“I was thinking of doing the Challenge, too. I’m curious about the Z-Moves and how they compare to Mega-Evolution.”

“Admit it, Sis. You just want another ring!”

Akara held up her hands to look at said rings, ignoring the many other sterling silver rings and midi rings to see the Class-Ring style of her platinum Champion ones. Each one for a different region and year, each had a shard of a Fire Stone in the middle – too small to affect an Eevee should it brush against them, but the little flame inside flared strong all the same. Kanto and Johto were on her pinkies while Hoenn was on her right middle finger. The five rings for each individual year she held onto her title were in the curio cabinet next to the Blue Orb, but she preferred this one.

It was her retirement ring, in a sense, with every year engraved into the metal around the Fire Stone with Kyogre on one side and Auron’s likeness engraved on the other. A custom gift from Steven Stone himself and the Elite Four of Hoenn.

As she looked at them, Sol smiled at the memory of when he gave it to his sister. Oh, the media shit-storm that had caused! Rumors of them being engaged despite Steven openly proposing to his longtime boyfriend Wally a year before, were **still** circulating and Akara had been retired for a year! He knew it was from how they were raised – their family was very open about PDA, be it platonic or romantic, so Akara holding hands, hugging, or kissing the cheek of any of her high profile friends immediately caused hell on earth for her poor agent, Leah.

She was a saint for dealing with Akara, to be honest.

“Nah, I won’t go for the League here. Too damn cold on Mt. Lanakila! All I want from there is that Ice Type Vulpix!” Akara said with fist bump. “It’s so cute! Besides, Hex needs a friend and she’s a snob!”

Hex was her Ninetails from Hoenn and she was, indeed, a snob. She didn’t have a tantrum like Delilah, her Master Rank Cool Contest Houndoom, when she got even the slightest bit dirty, but she refused to do anything but battle with Akara’s other Pokemon. Auron couldn’t even get the frigid Fire Type to warm up to him and he was the most welcoming one Akara had! But Hex loved being around other Vulpix and Ninetails, so Akara was planning on a small expedition once she got a Regional Pokédex from Kukui.

“Sis, you’re in hoodies and jeans no matter where you are when you’re not home, anyway,” Sol deadpanned, jumping off the porch to scratch Titan the Tyrantrum’s chin. She made happy purring noises that rattled their chests and made their jewelry vibrate, feeling more like the heavy bass of a concert than a purr.

“Jeans with the knees completely ripped out and a hoodie over a crop top, Kid.” Akara stretched up to help Auron tie off the rope at one end of the clothes line, having followed off the porch with their Mother as she went to the orchard. “Pretty sure the only bottoms I own that don’t have holes in them are my leggings and yoga pants – neither good for an ice capped mountain!”

“I still don’t know if I wanna do the Challenge…” Sol rubbed his arm and shuffled his feet a bit. “Mom did it when she was a kid and I wanted to when we got here, but then Professor Kukui barged in and said I was gonna be the first Alolan Champion this, first Alolan Champion that! It’s… It just feels like I won’t be able to actually enjoy it like you did your journey, ya know?”

Akara was silent as she walked over and hugged him, running her hands through his hair like she did before she left for Hoenn after Johto. She’d decided to take a full year off when he’d come out as Transgender during that visit. She’d been pivotal in starting his therapies and changing his entire self to reflect himself as a boy and not a girl. He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and buried his face in her shoulder.

“I’ll talk with Kukui when I go over there in a few days. Push comes to shove, I’ll beat him up.”

“You will not, young lady!” Alana scolded, tugging lightly on Akara’s fiery red hair. The thick mass of body wave curls bounced back into place as Akara re-did the ponytail with a grumble, and Sol wilted as he fingered a lock of his wine red, straight hair. He froze when Alana turned her gaze to him. “And you! Stop comparing yourself to your sister!”

“Mom, it’s not that easy -”

“I’m not done!” Alana knelt in front of her son and put her hands comfortingly on his shoulders. “Kazuhiro and I love both of you with all our hearts. Have we ever given you a reason to not believe that?”

Sol looked down at his feet in the lush grass. “No…”

“No matter what you do, we will never say ‘you should’ve done… whatever… like your sister’-”

“I certainly fucking hope not,” Akara snarked, crossing her arms under her breasts. “I almost died a few times, last I knew!”

Alana looked up to the sky and muttered about the Tapus giving her strength before looking at Sol. “That’s one reason why we wouldn’t say that. You two are completely different people, beautiful and strong in your own ways. Your sister is Tauros-headed and plows ahead no matter the obstacle. Come Hell or high water, which both have, actually, she’s going to reach her goal.”

“Yea, but she’s always been confident! She didn’t have the bullies I did…”

Akara snorted and rolled her eyes. “You think I didn’t have people ridiculing me when Auron and I started our MMA training? So many Black Belts saying it wasn’t a woman’s place to be training so hard, my waistline should be smaller, ‘women should stick to the Contest Hall,’ ‘men don’t like women with muscles’ – Why do you think I’ve had Leah since I was sixteen?”

“She’s really been with you that long already?” Alana’s brows almost disappeared into her hairline when Akara nodded. “Feels like Kazuhiro and I called her not too long ago…”

“Why’d you call her when you were that young? You only had your Kanto Title back then, Sis.”

“Cuz I kept beating the shit out of people that tried to haze me out.” She shrugged. “I got sick of them pushing us around and being civil wasn’t cutting it, so Ōto-san and Ōka-san got me an agent who could handle it.”

“You, thankfully, don’t take after me and have my temper, Sunflora.” Alana brushed some of Sol’s hair out of his face, noting that she’ll have to take him for a haircut before he picks his Pokémon with Kahuna Hala. “You’re gentle and kind, more often than not, even to people that are trying to knock you down, and that’s rare in this day and age.”

“Yea and it makes me a doormat every time!”

“Actually, you’d be surprised what kindness can do.” Akara motioned to where the Legendary Xerneas, nicknamed Xerxes, had appeared and was helping in the Orchard – making the trees bloom earlier than normal, much to the Shiny Trio’s delight. “Xerneas doesn’t come to just anyone. If anything I was certain that Yveltal would’ve shown itself to me instead of Xerxes.”

“Well, you are a Bouffelant in a china shop, Sis.”

“Come ‘ere, ya lil shit!” Akara grabbed Sol into a fireman’s hold and started running around their mother, not stopping until he was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. She swung him around, earning a loud shriek from the boy, and sat him next to Alana before plopping down on his other side. “You’re getting fat – you weren’t that heavy when I picked you up last.”

“CHILDREN!” Alana sang the word a bit to stop the siblings before Sol tried to wrestle with Akara again. They both turned their attention to her and she smiled at them. “My Sun and Moon, you two are so different, but like your sister, I have a feeling you’re going to do great things for yourself!”

Sol whined as both women hugged him, making a sammich of the poor child before he struggled free. He definitely felt better knowing that, despite Akara’s track record, no one in his family was expecting anything huge from him. It made him get excited for his Island Challenge again.

When Akara laid down in the grass, hoodie unzipped and leaving her stomach bare, he caught sight of the two flowers on her hips and it brought another thought to his head.

“Hey, Sis?” She hummed at him, eyes closed and legs crossed at the ankle. “Have you ever found who these belong to?”

Akara opened an eye and pulled herself up a bit to see that Sol was pointing at the purple Guzmania bloom on her left hip, the long stem covered in leaves snaking up the entire length of her hip bone, and the red Dahlia flower on her right. She shrugged and fell back into the grass. “Nope!”

“Why not? I thought everyone wants to meet their Soul Mate – and you have two!” Sol pouted while looking at the vibrant colors on his sister’s skin. “I can’t wait to find mine once my Mark shows up.”

“Wasn’t gonna waste my life searching for two people in a population of over seven billion, bud. I had a plan for my life and I wasn’t putting it on hold for anyone – besides you, of course,” she flashed him a smirk that he knew a lot of her fans would swoon at, one that showed her little canines. “You can’t live your life for other people, Sol. Gotta live it for yourself!”

 

 

Alana and Sol left as the sun started to set, saying Professor Kukui would meet them at the Ferry Terminal and escort them back, which Akara was grateful for. Alana was known for her horrible night vision and had actually put herself in the hospital after stubbing – and breaking – her toe in their old home after getting up to let her Meowth inside in the middle of the night.

The Champion had walked them to the end of her driveway in Ula’Ula Meadow and shared one last hug with her family, lifting both Alana and Sol off the ground. She and Sol waved until she lost sight of them. She was more than happy that she could help her brother feel better about the Island Challenge. There was never pressure from their parents for him to follow her example, but the public often mobbed the poor kid about it if he went out alone in Kanto, so Kazuhiro had agreed to move them out here and his only request he’d had was that Sol visited for half the year once they were settled in.

Akara was grateful her parent’s Soul Mate bond was platonic in the end. They really were great friends and parents. The siblings had never wanted for anything, never had to compete for attention – nothing. They had just decided that their bond wasn’t romantic and divorced. No drama, no fuss.

Akara knew the hardships of Soul Mates better than most despite not finding her own yet. Being a Champion, people would often try to fake their marks and it was an issue every high profile Trainer had to deal with at least once. She’d seen so many variations of what was _supposed_ to be her own mark that she had no idea what it would actually look like on another person.

The wrong color Guzmania or Dahlia on one person, a flower _“representing”_ her that she despised on another, a Megastone swirl that was the wrong colors for ANY known Megastone, her name – who even HAD their Soul Mate’s name as a Mark? Akara knew Blue Oak and not even his Soul Mates had his name as his mark on their skin. He was vain, but not **that** vain.

When she had made the decision to renovate this minka and move to Alola, however, her Marks had gotten very warm and pulsed with different heartbeats that eventually synchronized with her own. Since then, they’d been very faintly getting more vibrant as she got closer to Alola and the heartbeats hadn’t gone away.

_They’re here. In Alola._

Walking back down the drive with her hood up to keep some of the semi-permanent mist off her hair, Akara became lost in her thoughts.

She wasn’t a humble person, but Akara wasn’t cocky enough to believe she was the best at anything, either. She didn’t see herself as a die-hard beauty, but she knew she was worth a double-take when she actually tried. Her Pokemon were some of the strongest out there, but they had to work to get there – it didn’t happen overnight.

Hell, Auron had almost died when they first started their journey in Hoenn! He was deaf from that incident and Akara certainly learned from that.

Like Sol said, outside of the house, ripped jeans, a crop top and a hoodie were the norm. At home, you were lucky to catch her in yoga pants or leggings. Having to be in her ridiculous Edgelord Champion outfit for five years made Akara hate dressing up, make-up, or even putting in her contacts. The hatred of make-up was from having to cover her numerous tattoos every time she left her own home just so she could get something from the store without being mauled.

Good thing Auron was there to help get her back with that miracle cover-up she had or the water color piece on her back that was inspired by Xerneas’ spots would give her away. Or the Team Valor logo on her left collarbone, her Zodiac constellation on her right collarbone, the Soma family crest on the right side of her ribs, the dreamcatcher with charms of all the Gym Badges she’d earned in the feathers and web on her left thigh – she was covered in ink and there was no way to go out without either using an entire bottle of cover-up or looking like a thug or a nun.

As she corralled her larger Pokemon into the barn for the night and closed up the shoji against the damp, Akara felt Butterfree in her stomach. This made her nervous. More nervous than anything she had dealt with in the past – being friends with Red and Blue, Akara had seen and done some shit!

Akara growled while almost angrily changing into a tank top and underwear; the usual wear for home, sans shorts. She threw herself onto her large bed and got comfortable before the Shiny Sylveon and Volcarona got into their respective spots. As she trolled through her social media accounts, a thumb ran over the length of her Guzmania bloom Mark and she spoke into the dark.

“You’re finally within reach, my Flowers. You can’t hide from me anymore…”


	2. Midnight Munchies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akara is hungry, but some people just gotta ruin the mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a despicable human being for taking this long to update!  
> Work has been busy as hell so I've had no time to type, BUT HERE'S THIS! ENJOY!

Akara loved the minka itself for the simple reasons of its huge pantry, the root cellar, and the large kitchen. The fridge she’d picked out was the largest one she could get without going industrial, same with the freezer for the rare microwave/oven meals she liked to indulge in. To be honest, most of the space was for the fresh ingredients she used to make her Pokémon’s meals.

There was even a meat locker in the cellar for Titan’s cut and quartered meals – which she often got shit for in the media. Titan was a carnivore, she had to have meat. Supplements and substitutions wouldn’t give her the nutrients she needed, so Akara had an agreement with the local authorities. They gave her unfortunate Pokemon that were road kill or whose bodies were donated by their trainers to feed the Tyrantrum.

When your pantry could feed a small army and your fridge could feed the reserves, but they’re both empty of human food, this causes an issue… and it was her current problem. It was eleven at night, she was still jetlagged and couldn’t sleep, and she’d been using her Kiseru pipe for the past few hours while she was finishing up unpacking the last of her boxes.

Bitch had the munchies; bad.

Akara dragged her tongue stud over the metal mouth piece between her teeth as she blew the acrid smoke from her nose like the Fire types she was so fond of. She nodded to herself after a few moments of staring into the empty fridge (save for some leftover pizza from when her family was over) and made her way to her room to pull on a hoodie and a pair of thigh high socks, Syl on her heels and Auron following at a lesser pace behind the excited Fairy Type.

_“Won’t you be cold?”_ Auron signed, motioning to her exposed midriff and the rather large expanse of toned thigh between the top of the black and red striped socks and the bottom of her black, jersey shorts.

“I’ll be fine, just a quick fly over to the Megamart for a few small things,” she said while digging out her slightly scuffed Converse wedges.

Auron raised an eyebrow, reminding the Champion of how her father would look at her outfits that involved her beloved crop tops and booty shorts. She dutifully ignored it as she pulled on a huge hoodie and slung her Valor Bag over her shoulder – a gift from Leader Candela herself.

As she sat in the genkan to pull on her shoes, one of Syl’s blue ribbons brushed over the tattoos on her collarbones and the completely uncovered Gym Badge dreamcatcher on her right thigh. His blue eyes looked a little nervous as he nudged Akara’s knees with his cheeks, pouting as she scritched his cheeks. Syl never did like when Akara went anywhere alone, let alone where there could be crowds.

Akara sighed as she stood, zipping up the hoodie and grabbed a pink harness from the coat hooks. Syl trilled and spun in place before sitting to get his travel harness put on, reflective skull shining brightly on his shoulders. Akara opened her bag and Syl jumped into it, getting comfy next to Akara’s wallet while she clipped his harness to a special tether in the bag, ensuring he wouldn’t fall out mid-flight. Adjusting the strap across her chest, Akara looked at Auron questioningly, who shook his head and pointed to the X-shaped scar on his beak.

“Sinuses giving you issues, huh? Your spray is in the cupboard over the guest bathroom sink!” He trilled in response before waving her off. Akara called for Corona and Cherry, saddling the Charizard and taking off after making sure Syl was secure in her bag.

 

Walking through the Megamart with her hood up may have made her look suspicious, but Syl having a tantrum until he could sit in the kiddie seat earned him all the adoring coos and pets a Pokemon could want. The attendants chuckled at the disgruntled look Akara gave him as she took him out of her bag, holding him in front of her face while he seemed to smirk back before putting him in his seat of choice.

She had to make sure that Cherry could carry everything and still fly safely, so she settled on the essentials; a single gallon of whole milk, a bag of cheesy popcorn, a round ten large bags of peppered and teriyaki jerky, two pepperoni oven pizzas, and two twelve packs of some blackberry ginger ale.

The lean Sylveon levelled his Trainer with a look that seemed to say “we have pizza at home” as she put the two boxes in the cart. He rolled his eyes and patted her cheek when she said, “What? I want some that’s fresh!”

Checking out was a hassle, as per the usual, when Syl was involved.

He just had to pat the cashier’s hand every time the boy grabbed an item to scan, making the four teens almost die at the cuteness overload. Syl also kept grabbing various snacks with his ribbon and scanning them when the cashier wasn’t looking. When asked if she wanted the items taken off her receipt, Akara shrugged and put her Kiseru in her mouth with a fresh refill.

“He behaved for the most part, he deserves a treat.”

The kid’s face upon seeing that the Pokemon had **doubled** his Trainer’s total with his sneaking and she just shrugged again while sliding a few bills out of her wallet was priceless. The teens gave Syl more lovin’s before Akara walked out with her bags, muttering fondly about her spoiled brat.

Akara was putting the cart back into the corral when Syl growled in her ear from his spot draped around her shoulders and under the too-big (no such thing, btw) hood. Turning to walk back to Cherry and running a hand over Syl’s neck and shoulders brought the Dragon into view.

Along with the cryptidly tall man trying to take off her saddle while the lounging Fire Type snapped lazily at his hands when they got too close. Akara clicked her tongue as she lit her Kiseru and made her way over. She hip checked the man, making him stumble to the side, and started loading Cherry up with the groceries.

“Hey! This here is **my** Ride Pokemon!” he said, right in her ear. One of Syl’s ribbons reached out and smacked him on the nose, making him yelp.

Akara scoffed, blowing smoke straight into the man’s face. He coughed and tried to wave the cloud away from his face as she started fixing the straps of the saddle. “Last I knew, you weren’t supposed to take the equipment off of Paged Pokemon, bruh.”

“And who the fuck are you to tell me about the traditions here? Ya don’t look local, girlie!” He kept trying to get close enough to loom over her, but Syl kept smacking at his face with his ribbons.

“Actually, I was born here and just moved back a few months ago.” She stood up after tightening the last strap and securing Syl in the travel bag. Planting her feet, Akara stared the man down while tapping the Kiseru on her palm to get out the spent marijuana, bopping him on the nose with a very forced smile. “So, I know plenty, fuck-face!”

He snarled and rubbed where the pipe had left a thick black smudge on his nose, unknowingly spreading it around. He saw red as the small woman smirked up at him, unafraid of the anger she could plainly see. He reached out and grabbed Akara by the hoodie, lifting her clean her feet and bringing her to his face.

Before he could say a word, her hands were anchored on his forearms as a leg came up and around his head. Akara forced his body off balance and he toppled to the ground as she popped up in a crouch. She grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back, landing a half-assed punch (for her) to his kidney that drove the air from his lungs. The white haired man dropped to his knees gasping while a tall woman with a brunette to purple ombre came from behind the bushes to stand between Akara and him.

The redhead paid her no mind as she checked Syl, who had been swung around with her movements. Satisfied that he was fine, she dragged her eyes over the woman in front of her now. Tall, but soft, in the same colors of black and white as the guy she’d just dropped. Definitely a dancer with those thighs, taller than herself by six inches, she guessed. Beautiful blue eyes that reminded her of a Froslass, glacial blue, but there was a Beautifly knife in her hand.

Akara raised an eyebrow and looked between the knife and the woman’s face. Without a word, she grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the knife and under the woman’s shoulder. With a growl, Akara tossed her over her shoulder. The brunette screamed as she went air born and her surprise allowed Akara to take the knife from her hand mid-flight.

“Nice knife, Sweetheart. From Kalos, ne?” Akara twirled it in her hand a bit before closing it and handing it to Syl, who tucked it away under himself for the flight. The woman groaned as she looked up at Akara, the man glaring from the ground on her other side. “Think of this as collateral for trying to steal my Pokemon and ruining my buzz!”

“Cheap shot, bitch – gck!” The white haired man choked as one of Akara’s platform sandals put the slightest pressure on his neck. She looked down as his mild panic-stricken face, her own a mask of unimpressed boredom that Syl and Cherry mirrored. It was unnerving how unconcerned she was with what she was doing and saying.

“See these rings, Hot-Shot?” Akara bent over to grab his chin in her hand, grip so surprisingly strong he knew he’d bruise, and made him look at the fist that had hit him just moments before. His silver eyes widened at the three champion rings on her pinkie, middle, and thumb.

“Y-you’re a Champion…!”

“And that’s just from Hoenn, Cryptid.” He gulped hard when he realized the trouble he could actually be in, his companion letting out a small whimper. Akara smirked as his face paled further with her next words. “I’ve beaten Red, Blue, Steven Stone – You name any Elite from Kanto to Hoenn and I’ve dropped ‘em, so you’re gonna listen and listen well.” Her voice dropped to a low growl when she spoke to them, but kept her eyes locked on the man’s. “I catch you tryin’ to take any Pokemon that don’t belong to you, let alone mine, again, and you’ll be waking up in the hospital; if ya’ wake up at all. Am I clear?”

The man swallowed hard and glared at her, but nodded. His eyes reminded Akara of a hurricane as she took her foot off his neck and mounted Cherry. She looked between the couple as the woman helped him sit up, taking a moment to notice that they were both actually very attractive.

Or they would be if she didn’t catch them trying to steal her Charizard.

Akara pat the Dragon’s neck and she Mega-Evolved in a burst of blue flame. Cherry snorted a flurry of azure embers at the two on the ground, puffing up at their looks of stunned awe with Pride. Akara rolled her eyes with a smile, nudging her sides with her heels and a short, “Ikou!”

Watching the couple turn into dots as they ascended into the night sky, the human and Eeveelution hunkered down before Cherry roared and sped towards home. To anyone watching from the ground, they looked like an electric blue streak across the sky. Akara took the short trip home to muse to herself about the altercation and thought to text her agent, Leah, about how many blows until self-defense turns into assault.

 

“Auron!” The Blaziken stopped halfway to the house after grabbing the blackberry ginger ale. “It’s four hits until defense turns to assault, right?”

He gave her a stern look and trilled disapprovingly as she caught up with him with Cherry’s saddle in one arm and the rest of the groceries in the other, Syl proudly carrying his bag of treats he’d snuck in at her heels.

“Hey! I didn’t start it this time! Two lowlifes were trying to take Cherry at the Megamart! All I did was incapacitate!”

Auron still gave her a look as they put things away. He also only let Syl have one of his treats, causing the Sylveon to pout as he gnawed on the Stantler antler slice, and was already heating up the leftover pizza in the oven for Akara to eat. Said Trainer was already dividing up a bag of teriyaki jerky between the three of them while she waited.

_“That’s still not responsible,”_ he signed as he took out the steaming pizza slices out of the oven.

Akara inhaled sharply and almost choked on a piece of jerky. It’d been over fifteen years since she’d first chosen him and Akara’s heart **STILL** had spasms when he took hot things out of the oven without the oven mitts. The Fire type huffed as she checked over his battle hardened palms and claws, butting her forehead lightly with his as she pulled away.

“Yeah, yeah, I know – I worry too much… I can’t help it; you guys are family even if I don’t use you in battle much anymore…” Akara sunk down into a cushioned seat at the Kotatsu, fingers digging into her hair and massaging her scalp. “It may not have looked it, but I was scared! No one’s tried stealing my Pokemon since Team Rocket, they were both taller than me – not that that’s stopped me before, but the guy was at least a foot taller and had at least fifty pounds on me.”

It wasn’t rare for Akara to have a bout of insecurity; she was only human, after all. Between society’s “ideal” body type for women and she knew better than to think she was the best of the best – “There’s always room for improvement,” as her father would say, Akara had a healthy amount of insecurities that didn’t cause problems.

Except for this. 

Pokemon being taken was anxiety inducing when you've grown up in Kanto and Johto and, while those two hadn’t been anywhere near as aggressive as Rocket, the incident still caused Akara's mind to go straight to aggression. But... they were nervous; the woman’s hand had been shaking while she held the knife.

Syl crawled into Akara's lap while Auron sat next to her and held one of her hands gently in his talons. She brought the Blaziken's hand to her forehead while stroking the Sylveon behind the years.

"I'll never let anyone take you or any of the others from me... Ohana means family..."

_"Family means nobody is left behind or forgotten,"_ Auron signed back, a smile crinkling his eyes. Syl 'boofed' in agreement as he settled in his Trainer's lap.

Akara gave a tired smile as she dug into the pizza Auron had warmed up. She was so focused on her little family that she didn't notice the dull ache starting to form around her kidney or her back.

Or that the flowers on her hips now looked like perfect photographs instead of tattoos.


	3. Delayed Reactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one said Akara was known for using common sense.  
> Cocky as fuck, aggressive, Resting Bitch Face? Totally.  
> Realizing some completely obvious shit? Not a chance!

“You two shoulda known better.”

Dahlia sunk deeper into the dye-stained bathtub of Shady House as her face burned, submerging half her face in the Epsom Salt water as Plumeria ripped her and Guzma for coming back with their tails between their legs. After picking pieces of asphalt from her back and setting up the warm bath and salts, Plumes had gotten a cold compress for the huge bruise blooming on Guzma’s back. It was painful to look at and Dahlia felt a twinge of pain just watching their friend help her lover.

The bruise had already blossomed across the entire lower right side of Guzma’s back in a grotesque mix of purple and blue, the middle where the woman had hit him staying an angry red that was brighter where the indents of the Champions’ rings had left tiny cuts in his skin. His forearms had friction burns from where she had anchored herself and his neck and chin had light yellow bruising forming from her shoe and hand.

Dahlia realized that she’d gotten off lightly compared to her boyfriend, even if her favorite knife had gotten stolen.

“If a lil kid is actin’ like they got nothin’ to worry about with only a single Pokemon – a fuckin’ **shiny** , at that! – something’s up!”

“To be fair, the Charizard was hers and she had another Pokeball clipped to her shorts…” Guzma grumbled into his arms where he leaned against the tub. Plumeria sat back from where she was checking his ribs to give him an incredulous look while Dahlia reached over to the counter to grab her phone and hopped on the internet.

“Oh! She had a Fairy type and a Dragon type that were chill with each other and y’all didn’t stop to think something, anything!” The Poison Trainer scoffed as she dabbed at one of the bigger cuts in the bruise a little harder than needed. “That makes it so much easier to believe ya got ya asses handed to ya by a teenager!”

“I don’t think she was just a kid…” Dahlia said while scrolling through her phone, a look of concentration furrowing her delicate brow. “She said she was a Champion in more than one Region -”

“Those rings were the real deal, too!” the leader of Team Skull said indignantly. “The gems were shards of real Fire Stones and had the Regional Crest of Hoenn on the sides along with the years!”

“ANYWAY!” Dahlia tapped on the link at the top of the page, opening up a website that listed all the Champions. “She also mentioned she had Titles in Kanto and Johto, so she’s at least a Tri-Regional Champion…” Her already pale face seemed to lose another shade as she found a picture that looked like the woman that they had tussled with at the Megamart. “Oh Arceus…”

“Whatcha find, Doll?” Dahlia handed her phone to Plumeria with slightly shaking hands and leaned closer to the edge of the tub, closer to Guzma. “Oh, cuz… Oh, you fucked up… You fucked up bad…”

“Tch, how did I fuck something up this time?”

“‘Akara Soma was the reigning champ of the Hoenn League for five years after defeating Steven Stone when she was twenty in 2012. Her team of Pokemon (Auron, Blaziken [M.E.]; Cherry, Charizard [M.E.]; Sylva ‘Syl’ Mist, Sylveon [Shiny]; Corona, Volcarona [Shiny]; Styx, Rapidash [Shiny]; Delilah, Houndoom [M.E.]) easily dealt with every challenger in those years under Akara’s ever watchful eyes. Using mostly hand signals, whistles, or (in Auron’s case) letting the Pokemon battle with their own wit, she made a name for herself with her fiery passion - literally!’

“‘With several of her Pokemon being rescues and/or rehabilitated individuals, it makes her achievements even more astounding! Before ruling Hoenn from the throne in Ever Grand City, Akara traveled and conquered Kanto and Johto in order to be closer to her family when her younger sibling was born when she was twelve. She willingly forfeit all progress she originally made in Hoenn by choosing to take on the Indigo League after a year off to bond with her sibling. She’s helped defeat Teams Rocket, Magma, and Aqua; even going so far as catching the Legendary Kyogre in the process!’” Plumeria glared at Guzma, who was banging his forehead into the side of the tub lightly. “You just HAD to fuck with someone that’s beaten Red and Blue.”

“Ugh…”

“‘In 2017, she chose to retire and move to Alola to live closer to her mother and younger sibling, but took time off to travel in Kalos, where she caught the Legendary Xerneas and named them Xerxes. She is a forerunner in Mega-Evolution research and specializes in strengthening a Pokemon’s defenses specifically against their weaknesses. Her Fire types are especially well known for taking direct hits from Water moves and not even flinching!’” Plumeria paused as Guzma groaned louder and pushed an ice pack on the kidney bruise. “Oh, shut up. Ya did this to yaself.”

“Keep reading…” Dahlia whispered, drawing her legs to her chest and hugging them. “There’s a picture of her Champion outfit…”

Plumeria shrugged while Guzma mumbled about why that was important and scrolled down to the picture that was mentioned, dated for just before the retirement. She whistled low when she saw it. “Oh, Tapus, those pants are barely holding on! But those tattoos are gorgeo - Wait…” Plumeria squinted at the screen for a minute, tapping the picture and zooming in. Her yellow eyes widened and she breathed out, “Holy shit…”

Akara was indeed wearing a very low rise pair of black leather pants. Any lower and there was bound to be an indecency issue, no doubt. A red leather bustier top left a huge expanse of her stomach showing and Guzma choked on his spit when the flowers on Akara’s hips came into focus.

A purple Guzmania flower to match the one on Dahlia’s thigh and the red Dahlia flower to match the one on his chest.

“That explains that swirl you both have. It’s the swirl in Blazikenite.” This was confirmed with a small infographic next to the photo with a line going from the Mega-Keystone in Akara’s right ear gauge to the three Megastones on the side, Blazikenite, Houndoomite and Charizardite X. “‘When asked if she’d ever sought out her Soul Mates, Akara seemed extremely laid back in answering us that, no, she hasn’t. ‘I’m more focused on my career at the moment. If they haven’t crossed my path by now, they’re probably in a Region I haven’t been to. We’ll meet when we’re supposed to.’’”

Guzma looked at the Swirl on Dahlia’s thigh and realized it was brighter than they’ve ever seen it, probably mirroring his own. The red and black were overlaid faintly by the DNA-like flame of a Mega-Evolution that seemed to almost shimmer against her skin.

“What do we do now?”

Guzma didn’t know how to answer Dahlia because he had no idea how they’d fit in with someone like Akara or if she’d even want them.

 

 

Meanwhile, in the Minka off of Ula’Ula Meadow, Akara was having a day, to say the least.

The scuffle with the wannabe thieves the night before had left her rattled and on edge. One of the teenagers in the store had recorded most of it and it was all over the internet, not that she cared about that; and Professor Kukui had barged into her house an hour before her alarm went off – four thirty in the Dialga blessed morning - to invite her to take the Island Challenge.

He had been met with a very angry Sylveon’s Hypervoice and spent a good ten minutes raving about it while Pokemon and Trainer glowered at him from the counter.

The only reason she said “yes” was because she wanted to travel with Sol, show him the ropes and teach him what she knew. She wasn’t going to get a new Starter Pokemon, but she was going to participate in the Festival for Tapu Koko by battling Kahuna Hala. She figured her Champion Team would be good enough and literally dragged him out of her house and down the driveway.

After that, Akara had caught a few kids around Sol’s age, maybe a few years older, spying on her. When caught, the two boys had tried to be act like Eminem or Lil Wayne on stage, throwing their hands around and using terrible rhymes.

She had cringed at some of them, feeling embarrassed on the rappers’ behalves, but learned that they were Grunts of Team Skull who lived in what was left of Po Town. They were told to watch her by “Big Bad Guzma” who was looking for revenge for the “cheap tricks” at the Megamart.

Basically, her new neighbors were Pokemon thieves. Oh, goody.

Syl and Delilah had chased them off with a snap of her fingers and now Akara was looking for someone to replace her custom glass shoji doors with colored glass panels so it’d be harder, if not impossible, to see inside.

“Spent fuckin’ over twenty thousand for the Flute Maker in Hoenn to make each individual panel of glass for this house and now I have to pack it all in storage cuz some douche canoe and his boo got a grudge.”

This was just a small part of the mumbling she’d been doing for the past hour of calling around the entire Alola Region in her search for a glass blower.

“Not one professional glass blower in the fuckin’ Region, Flute Maker says he has a protégé on Akala, but they raise fuckin’ Miltank and can only do glass in their free time, it’ll cost about thirty thousand to get the Flute Maker to make the new panels plus shipping and it could take almost a year – DAMN IT ALL TO GIRATINA!”

Auron patted Akara’s messy bun, not taking his eyes off of the book he was reading. She growled and grumbled under her breath as she took an angry bite of the apple that was serving as breakfast. He nudged the decorative bowl that held her medication toward her and made sure she took all of them – birth control, panic, multi-vitamin. He patted his easily riled Trainer before focusing on his book again, seemingly diligently ignoring her growls and grunts of frustration.

Lighting up her Kiseru, Akara took a pull and held it in until her lungs burned. Releasing the cloud of medicinal marijuana, she noticed her hands shaking and the jerky movements of the smoke from the end of her pipe. Leaning her head on the table, she matched her breathing with Auron’s until she was calm again. Still shaking a little, the Champion actually flinched when Auron’s perpetually warm claw rested on her back and started rubbing along her spine comfortingly.

“I should really get you registered as a Service Pokemon,” she muttered into the table top a few minutes later. “You always know when I’m about to have a panic attack before I do.” Auron just huffed in amusement and patted her hair again.

In the fifteen years they’d been a team, Auron had developed the uncanny ability to sense when someone – human or Pokemon – was going to have an anxiety or panic attack. He was especially in tune with Akara for obvious reasons, but he had alerted on Sol and Styx multiple times throughout the years, as well. The only thing missing from the Blaziken’s resume was an official certification.

“Should I offer to have that Eevee I gave Sol trained? If those… ruffians from Team Skull are an actual issue, which I doubt, he might need that type of help if we get separated during the Island Challenge.” Auron trilled in affirmative, so Akara pulled out her phone to text the youngest Soma. Upon getting a surprisingly excited confirmation, she continued to muse. “Kahuna Hala should know about Service Pokemon programs, right? I’ll ask tomorrow at the festival.”

_“Going to wear your Edgelord uniform?”_ Auron asked, causing both of them to snort and laugh.

“Oh, Arceus, no! It’s too hot here to wear that outside!” Akara took a short pull from her pipe before emptying it in the ashtray. “Nah, I’ll find something. Comfortable but appropriate.”

_“Dressing like a Live-In prostitute isn’t appropriate.”_

“I am **NEVER** letting Red and Blue teach any of y’all Kantoan Sign Language ever again.”

 

 

“Wow, cuz! You didn’t tell me your sister was a Champion! That is so cool! My name is Hau! Did ya bring your team? Is that Blaziken part of it? Are ya here to do the Island Challenge? Are ya gonna battle my Tutu? Have you ever tried Malasadas? They’re amazing-!”

Akara just stared wide eyed at the dark skinned, Pinap haired friend Sol had introduced her to as he continued to rattle off questions. He’d dragged Hau over to her the minute he’d seen her and Auron reach the top of the stairs to the festival grounds in Iki Town and Hau hadn’t once stopped talking. Akara’s Resting Bitch Face didn’t seem to deter Hau at all, as was the norm when it came to children, her family, and Professor Kukui.

Only “normal” adults seemed to be put off by it.

“Is he gonna breathe soon or…?” Sol elbowed his sister with a smile. “I mean… He just keeps going! I’m a little concerned.”

“Hau, my boy! That’s enough!” Akara looked up at the robust man that joined them, taking in the rather loud yellow print and jolly belly. Definitely related to Hau if the Pinap hair was anything to go by. “Let her breathe!”

“I don’t mind, Kahuna Hala,” Akara said while putting a hand on each boy’s head, giving each a fond pat. This apparently turned off Hau’s mouth, but he seemed to almost vibrate instead. “I’d rather be hounded by curious kids than reporters. Their questions are usually much more pleasant!”

“Still, it is rude to bombard newcomers with questions.” Hala gave his still vibrating grandchild a stern look before he and Sol scampered off to look around the area some more. Hala leaned into her, hand hiding his mouth as he stage whispered, “Though, you probably made his day. Since Kukui mentioned it, Hau is torn between being Champion and taking my place as Kahuna!”

Leaning towards the man herself as they walked to the platform, Akara also stage whispered, “Between you and me, he could do both if he doesn’t make himself a Career Champion like I did.” Hala laughed and thumped her on the back, causing the much smaller woman to stumble a step with a laugh of her own.

As she straightened, Akara saw a girl in white heading up the trail in the back of the area. Though she looked terribly out of place wearing all white from her shoes to the huge sunhat, Akara knew her and it gave her a very valid feeling of déjà vu. She excused herself from Hala as Hau came over and started towards the trail.

“Sissy? What’s up?” Akara glanced at Sol as he matched her pace up the trail. “Is it a Reincarnation thing?”

“I keep forgetting you’ve had the horrid habit of reading my diaries when I was home, you nosy brat,” she mumbled while shoving her hands in her pockets. “And yes, it is.”

“Ooh! Is it a calamity like what happened in Hoenn!?” Sol asked, jumping in front of Akara to walk backwards ahead of her. She raised an eyebrow at his wide eyes and smile. “Or is it like when you, Red, and Blue took down Team Rocket?”

“You are way too excited at the possibility of being in the middle of a shit storm that could endanger the entire Region, Sunflora.”

“So it **IS**! Shit-!” Akara’s hand shot out to grab the neck of Sol’s shirt when he pitched backwards, tripped by a rock. He chuckled sheepishly as she pulled him to his feet and Auron shook his head.

“What’s going to happen in Alola is serious, Sol,” she said while putting her hands on his shoulders, grip firm but not painful. “A lot is gonna go down and if I tell you to run or back down, you **need** to listen. Hau and this girl are going to be depending on us, but this is _your story_ , not mine.”

Sol’s yellow eyes widened and in a small voice asked, “Mine?”

Akara nodded. “Yes. It’s part of the reason I decided to do the Island Challenge with you when you and Oka-san moved here – I can teach you what I know so you can have the upper hand and I can back you up when the time comes.” Noticing his face turn a little pale, she nudged a shoulder lightly. “You can find your own style of Training and Battling, too; mine might need a little more Instinct than you have at the moment!”

“Hey! Eevee and I are good on our own, too!” he said indignantly, cheeks puffing up like a Quilfish.

“Eevee is one Pokemon compared to the hundreds that I’ve met,” she said, straightening up and continuing up the trail. “Research in your spare time and listening to your Pokemon will make your bond stronger, which will make you unstoppable.”

Sol quieted, stuck in thought as they walked the short distance to the bridge Akara knew Lillie and the little Cosmog would be.

She was a little down knowing she wouldn’t get Lunala, but she already had three Legendaries, even if Kyogre was technically released. She just kept the Masterball intact so no one would be able to try to catch them again. Xerxes would be released the next time she visited Kalos with the same idea behind it, but Corona had gotten very upset when Akara said she would release him in the same way. The giant moth had kicked up a whirlwind of fire with tears in his eyes at her just mentioning it, so Akara had tossed the idea out the window.

Saving Cosmog from the Spearow went as it should, Sol recklessly jumping into the fray and almost falling to his death. Just because she knew it was coming didn’t mean Akara didn’t have a heart attack when the bridge broke or when Tapu Koko showed up to save them.

As she hugged Sol to her chest after checking him over for any damage, Tapu Koko seemed to stare her down. Akara knew it was assessing her, all the Legendaries she met did. She had a feeling they knew she was different, that she knew more than she should. It had stopped bothering her years ago, but it was still nerve-racking to have a Legendary just stare at you.

Lillie thanked Sol while Akara picked up the Cosmog and pet it. The texture of its galaxy patterned body was like petting a Ghost Type – you couldn’t really feel it, but you could feel the pressure pushing back on your hands – but Cosmog also seemed to tickle her skin when her hand passed over a star, making her giggle a bit before Lillie insisted on “Nebby” getting back in the bag.

When Akara ushered the two children back to the festival area, she ignored Kukui as he talked to them. She’d heard that intro so many times, she could site it word for word. Besides, his constantly chipper attitude grated on her nerves. It was about eight at night, the sun just starting to set, and Kukui was acting like he’d shotgunned ten shots of espresso.

Hyper children like Hau Akara could handle. She couldn’t stand adults like Kukui, though.

That line of thought ran until she choked on her drink, realizing who exactly had tried to steal Cherry. She remembered who was the Boss of Team Skull, who’s mark suddenly weighed heavily on her hip, who she’d had a hyper-fixation on in her past life.

“Oh, sweet Moltres! I beat the shit out of Guzma at the Megamart!” she wheezed while Auron was patting her back. “I beat the shit out of my Soul Mate!”


	4. Road to Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starters are picked and the actual story begins!

Akara smiled as she watched Hau and Lillie drag Sol into a clothing shop for a swimsuit binder in Hei’Hei while she set up their stuff on the beach. After the Festival and the kids having a sleepover at Alana’s, Akara had suggested they go to the beach to get to know their Pokemon before moving on to Ilima’s Trial.

The boys had chosen their partners, a shy little Popplio for Sol and a Rowlet that rivaled Red’s Charizard in aloofness for Hau, and Akara had begrudgingly (read “made one of the girliest noises ever in her life”) adopted the remaining starter, Litten, after Hala had told her how she’d been looked over for having a bobbed tail instead of a long one. Lillie passed on the opportunity as she already had Nebby, but Akara knew there’d be a partner for her soon.

The three Alolan starters were lounging under the umbrella Alana had let them borrow while Akara set up the towels and cooler full of sandwiches and drinks. Popplio looked longingly at the water while Litten was grooming him and Rowlet was sleeping – something Akara expected. He was an owl, of course he’s nocturnal.

The champion kicked off the black jersey shorts, sandals, and pulled off her too big t-shirt. She ignored the few whistles she got as she adjusted the ties on her triangle top and string bikini bottoms, making sure the few paparazzi around didn’t get an eyeful of anything besides her skin and tattoos. Noticing the look on Popplio’s face, she knelt beside him and Litten to pet them both gently.

“Do you wanna go in, little ‘Lio?” The water type started at Akara’s question, eyes going wide. “I’ll go with you if you want – just until my brother gets back. Then, Sol can go with you.”

Popplio looked between the water and her, giving a soft bark in question. At her nod, the seal happily wiggled off their designated towel toward the water. Litten meowed sadly before Akara nudged her toward the water, too.

“If you want to try so you can play with ‘Lio, you can. Just stay in the shallows or near me, okay? I don’t want you getting swept out.” Akara watched the kitten almost streak after her friend before turning to the ever present Blaziken. “Keep an eye on Rowlet for me?”

Auron nodded and pulled out a book while sitting next to the knocked out Grass type.

Akara met the other two at the water’s edge where Popplio was helping Litten take ginger steps into the surf. High stepping and shaking a paw with each step, she made her way toward Popplio until her back was submerged and her head and little nub tail were showing. Surprisingly, she didn’t seem to mind it as she continued to swim in the shallows with Popplio around Akara’s calves.

Keeping an eye on the kitten and seal, Akara stepped out deeper so she could submerge herself in the tropical water. Still a shock to the system when she suddenly dropped completely under the waves, coming up she felt like she had just stepped out of the hot springs in Hoenn –relaxed and rejuvenated, even with some hair in her face making her look like Samara from The Ring. Probably due to the active volcano on Akala. She swam a few lengths out before coming back, getting a short workout in since she wasn’t able to this morning at her mother’s before they set out.

Standing up in the chest height surf, Akara was just in time to see Hau accidentally splash Litten in the face as he thundered into the waves. She wailed loudly before going under for a moment, Popplio right there to bring her up to the surface before she panicked, and scampered onto the beach coughing. Popplio followed and pat the kitten on the back while Lillie was right there with a towel as Akara arrived back on shore, thighs burning from forcing herself out of the water at a jog.

“Hau!” The Pinap headed boy looked at her sheepishly before making his way over, looking at the Litten before back to the sand. “I know it was an accident, but you need to apologize.”

“I-I’m sorry I got you wet, Litten…” Hau said, holding his hand out as a peace offering. Litten growled and swatted at his hand, a thin line of red appearing on his skin before Akara’s hand shot out to gently grab the paw. Lillie gasped a little at the outright aggression of the cat while Sol went to grab the small first aid kit. Hau held his hand to his chest and sighed. “I guess I deserved that…”

“None of that, now.” Litten tried to tug her paw from Akara’s hand, hackles raising and Embers spitting from her mouth. Akara took the towel and swaddled the cat in it, making Alola’s angriest Purrito. “I said enough, Murder Muffin.”

Litten hissed at her trainer’s face a few more times before settling into just growling. Akara watched Sol apply the liquid bandage to Hau’s hand after Lillie cleaned it, all the while holding Litten so she could hear her heart and calm down.

“I know she’s mad, but she didn’t need to lash out!” Sol huffed while packing away their supplies.

“She was abused before Tutu got her, so I should’ve known better…” Hau sighed. Lillie and Sol looked confused at this new information. “I just thought that since Sol said you were a Behaviorist, she’d be better.”

Akara sighed heavily through her nose, looking up to the sky and petting Litten between the ears. “For humans and Pokemon, recovery is not linear and it's not instantaneous. There will be good days, there will be bad days. Bad weeks and even months happen sometimes, all you can do is be patient and support them.”

All three children seemed to think this over for a while before returning to their cheery selves and running down the beach at Lillie’s suggestion, probably to avoid any more mishaps. She was a bit naïve, but perceptive. Something that would help when she finally got over her fear of Pokemon.

“Are you done pouting now? Can I trust you to apologize to Hau for scratching him?”

Litten huffed, looking away from Akara before nodding. She gently unwrapped the kitten, who started grooming the excess water from her fur in the sun. Popplio pointed at the water and went in to play with the younger trainers when Litten shook her head in the negative. Akara knew she’d apologize when she was ready.

Akara said nothing to the cat’s embarrassed pouting, instead settling down on her own large circle towel and putting some oil on her skin. Once she was done, she motioned Litten over to do the same to her with one of the organic oils she’d made for her Fire types. With another mini-tantrum and some scraps of lunch meat, the cat was bribed into allowing the oil to be massaged into her fur. After making sure Auron was comfortable and Litten was watching the kids from her spot against her hip, which was sure to leave a slightly lighter spot, Akara put on her sunglasses and headphones to tan.

The mix of videogame and anime soundtracks filled her ears and Akara would never be able to tell Arceus how grateful she was that basically every videogame she loved in her past life still existed in this universe. The obvious exception being the Pokemon franchise, but Nintendo itself was very much alive and well. Seeing series like _Devil May Cry_ , _Left4Dead_ , and _Final Fantasy_ was a bit of a shock. _Dragon Ball Z_ and _Sailor Moon_ were basically the same, too. Her second childhood wasn’t that much different from the first except the obviously dubious employment her father had and Pokemon running around, but that’s neither here nor there.

Feeling Litten get up, Akara cracked open an eye to watch her go over to the kids and put her paws on his thigh, rubbing against the hand she used Scratch on. When he gave the kitten a good chin scritch, Akara rolled over onto her back and reset the timer on her phone so she didn’t burn.

Makuahine might be Alolan, but Akara inherited her father’s skin and he burned horribly then remained “lightly toasted” for the rest of the year after being “crispy” for about a week and a half. Poor man looked like a cooked Corphish at least once every year. Sol was like their mother and seemed to never burn, a gift Akara was very jealous over.

When the timer went off twenty minutes later, Akara cracked her eyes open and abruptly froze.

There on the stairs leading down to the beach was the woman from the other night. She was wearing a different sarong and the tank top was replaced with just a dark purple crochet style bikini top, but there was no mistaking those glacial blue eyes and the purple ombre in her hair.

Or the Blazikenite and Mega-Evolution swirl around it on her thigh – Akara’s Soul Mark. She felt the dahlia flower on her hip burn pleasantly for a moment when she made eye contact when she took off her sunglasses.

Auron looked behind him when he noticed his Trainer’s tense form as she sat up. He set his book aside and stood, ready to battle, but Akara waved him down. Shooting off a text to Sol about being right back, Akara waited until she saw him read it before getting up.

She dusted the sand off of her arms and started towards her, Auron right on her heels and Litten jumped onto her shoulder after running back from the children. The mystery woman bit her lip and shuffled her feet as she made her way over, arm going across her stomach to hold her other one. Akara put her sandals on when she got to the stairs and made her way toward the Malasada shop, nodding her head towards it for the woman to follow.

Maybe they made an intimidating posse, but Akara didn’t care. This woman had her Mark on her creamy thigh. She couldn’t remember if this woman was a character in any Pokemon game she had played in her past life. The doe eyes and complexion were definitely Kalosian, but she couldn’t be sure. It’d been a while since she went to Kalos and that wasn’t her favorite Region if she was being honest.

Walking into the shop, Akara pulled out her card from her bikini top and handed it to the cashier. She rattled out an order for herself and her two Fire types before turning to face the other woman. She jumped at the attention and muttered out an order while Akara went to get them a table. Auron grabbed some napkins with Litten as she sat down and watched the woman at the counter grab her card from the cashier and their order.

“I’d why you’re so nervous, but that’s a dumb question considering,” Akara said once the food had been passed around. She cut Litten’s malasada up a little bit so she didn’t try to eat a full one to her face.

“Y-yea, just a little. N-not that you’re stupid! Obviously, you’re not stupid – you’re a multiregional **champion** , for crying out loud! You couldn’t have three titles if you were dumb! Hahahahaha!”

Akara stared at the other woman’s now red face as she chewed on her malasada. It was quiet while she swallowed and took another small bite and a sip of her drink, hiding behind her hair. It was cute, but wow.

“Talk about word vomit, damn.”

“Ugh, I’m sorry…” She held her hand out and Akara took it in a shake. “I’m Dahlia and I’m sorry about… the other day… when we, uh…”

“When you tried and failed to steal Cherry and got your asses beat by someone half your size?” Akara asked with a smirk, taking a sip of her lemonade. “And is that your name or are you just telling me of your Mark?”

“Yes.” At the redhead’s raised brow, the blush that had just receded came back full force. “Both! I mean, both. Gods, I’m a fucking mess.”

“A hot mess, though.”

“Thanks?”

“Don’t need thanks for telling the truth.” Akara shrugged off Dahlia’s flushed stammering as she dug into her food.

“So. Why did you show up to talk to me but not Big Bad Guzma?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so fucking sorry it took me so long to update! BACK FOR SOME HOPEFULLY REGULAR UPDATES!

**Author's Note:**

> I have decided to go in a totally different direction from the original, which I've been fucking stuck on since May!  
> Just couldn't find a way to move forward!


End file.
